Donald Trump "struggled to read" while he was preparing to host Saturday Night Live, according to a former cast member.
SNL provoked outrage in 2015 when it tapped the then-presidential candidate on the shoulder to host the late-night comedy show. Critics accused producers of giving Trump free publicity, thereby giving his presidential bid a much-needed shot in the arm.
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Now, a picture has been painted of what the comedians and writers within the SNL camp thought of Trump hosting while the outrage swirled around them.
Taran Killam, who was let go from his prominent SNL gig last year, has revealed cast and crew were far from impressed with the presidential candidate. Killam impersonated Trump three times between October and December 2015.
"It was not fun," he told Brooklyn Magazine. "Most of the cast and writers were not excited to have him there. I didn't get the feeling that he was excited to be there, and it felt like a move for ratings from both sides."
In terms of Trump's performance, Killam said "what you see is what you get" with the US President.
"He struggled to read at the table read, which did not give many of us great confidence," he said. "[He] didn't get the jokes, really. He's just a man who seems to be powered by bluster."
The November 2015 gig was not the first time Trump took the helm at Saturday Night Live. He also hosted the program in April 2003 and is the celebrity who has been most impersonated during the show's 40-year history.
However, since Trump won the election, SNL hasn't held back from its scathing portrayal of the commander-in-chief and his administration. Ghostbusters star Melissa McCarthy is set to renew her scathing impersonation of White House press secretary Sean Spicer on May 13.